Present Situation of the Sustainable Management of Water Resources for
Human Survival and Bio-production, and the Role of Agro-environmental
Education Today in Afghanistan
Dr. Abdul Khabir Alim**Water Engineer, IOM, Afghanistan
1. Background
The three topics of this year seminar, “sustainability”, “management” and “water
Resources” are the most challenging issues of the current century; amongst, thewater resources. Water is a precious natural resource. It is vital for the humandignity, essential for health, well being and crucial substances for development. It isimperative for maintenance of agricultural productivity and alleviation of poverty
and hunger. The world industrial development is indebted to this precious resource.
And the present decorated earth landscape is the fine art product of water.
The trend of world development is closely tied with water. The present world
population needs and the magnificent agricultural and industrial demands for water
demonstrate the water as one of the most crucial commodity of the current century.
According to Richter et. al., (2003), during the 20th century, the global humanpopulation has increased fourfold, but the water withdrawal from natural freshwater
resources is eightfold. Because of critical role of water in human life, TSD, (2005)
has predicted that in twenty first century if there is any world war, it would be onwater. Kofi Anan has noted this threat and advised that “the water resources neednot to be a source of conflict; instead it can be means for cooperation”.
acknowledging the importance of water in human lives, United Nations during its
60 years of age, specified 2 separate international water decades: Water andSanitation, (1981 -1990) and Water for Life (2005 – 2015) decades.
One of the commitments of present water decade is achieving one of theMillennium Development Goals; i. e., to reduce the proportion of people without
access to safe drinking water by 2015 to half and to stop unsustainable exploitationof water resources (http://www.un.org/waterforlifedecade/). In 2002 the World
Summit in Johannesburg added another one to this: to bring to half by 2015 theproportion of people who do not have access to basic sanitation. However, several
challenges are ahead for attainment of this goal; as an example, the lack ofawareness on the importance of safe drinking water and safe sanitation means.
To overcome with problem of water scarcity, several countries have strengthened
their fresh water with treated wastewater and/ or desalinated waters. Bakir (2001)
has reported that in some of these countries, desalinated and recycled wastewaterreaches to 20 to 50% of total water withdrawal from natural resources. He has
proposed a shift from the present supply-driven approach to demand-driven
approach; as one of the strategies for increasing the water efficiency.
2. Water Resources in Afghanistan
As a landlocked country, Afghanistan is encountered with a scarcity of water
resource. This scarcity is mainly due to the unequal spatial and timely distributionof precipitation. In Afghanistan 80% of winter precipitation happens at places atelevations higher than 2000 m above sea level (asl); in the form of snow. This
amount is estimated to about 150 billion m3 . The remaining 20% of annual
precipitation (i. e., 30 billion m3 ) takes place in places lower than 2000 m asl

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(MIWRE, 2004). From the annual surface water, an estimated volume of 84 billion
m3 (i. e., 47% of total precipitation) is discharged out of the country.
Assuming an infiltration rate of 10% of the winter precipitation, the total amount ofgroundwater recharge in normal years is about 15 billion m3 . An effective
groundwater volume in Afghanistan is estimated to 15.351 bcm. It forms theessential source of domestic water supplies and agricultural demands. An accurate
estimation of discharge and recharge of groundwater sources in Afghanistan iscurrently unavailable. Water availability for irrigation purpose is dependent on
seasonal variation of stream flow. The snowmelt and heavy rainfalls result tosignificant amount of stream flow in spring season; while small amount of flow isobserved in late summers. Evidently, the crop water requirements are high atsummers.
The land suitable for farming or horticulture in Afghanistan is limited, i. e., about
10% of the country. More than half of all irrigated arable land lies in the north (thenorthern foothills and plains of the main Hindu Kush ranges); while most of theremaining irrigated land lies in the Helmand river basin. Wheat cultivation ispracticed even on rain- fed agricultural lands of very steep slopes and the highmountains.
In Afghanistan the water-dependent land cover can be divided into irrigated land,intermittently cultivated land, rain- fed land, rangeland and forest. Out of total landarea of 382,135 km2 , 4.08% is covered by irrigated land, 4.31% intermittently
cultivated, 11.82% by rain- fed land, 76.36% by rangeland and 3.42% by forest(calculated from data released by MIWRE (2004). The remaining (212,865 km2 ) of
the areas are the mountains and deserts. The percentage of land cover for eachwatershed in Afghanistan is shown in Figure 1.

Figure 1. Land Cover of Watersheds in Afghanistan.
Groundwater quality in Afghanistan is depending to the type of geology of the area.
Fresh and saline water exist in all places. Saline water is found mainly in thenorthern region of the country; while the bacteriologically contaminated water
exists is in most urban areas. This is due to the absence of sewage system in the
country. The absence of sewage system in the country has resulted to gradually
deterioration of fresh water sources; even in Kabul city. The problem is critical2especially in congested areas; where the discharge of different types of wastes
finally reaches the water bodies. In case decisive action is not taken, thegroundwater pollution in the country would induce great disaster for the inhabitantsof Afghanistan.
Drought and mismanagement of groundwater have dropped the water table to fall
down almost all over the country, including Kabul city. However, Japan
International Cooperation Agency (JICA) studying groundwater resources in Kabul
as a program of the Ministry of Mines and Industries (MMI) identifies this asvague; because of incomplete feasibility study and lack of monitoring system (MMI,2005).
The damages incurred in production wells in the provinces during the war, hasretarded the development of water resources. Moreover, the above- mentioned report
has found the agencies currently involved in groundwater extraction affairs, eitherwith technical or operational problems. However, due to the lack of technical knowhow, lack of adequate management; and in addition, the low level of coordination
between theses agenc ies has resulted the groundwater development to takes place in
unprofessional manner. The uncontrollable extraction of groundwater in rural areasof the country by the Ministry of Rural Rehabilitation and the national andinternational NGOs are some of exa mples. In addition, apart from engineeringoriented projects, the local communities are exploiting groundwater through usageof private well drilling firms; which are cheap and available almost everywhere, but,with no sound groundwater knowledge Therefore, groundwater faith in provinces
remains as an unresolved issue in the context of rebuilding of Afghanistan scenario.
In order to launch an integrated water management in Afghanistan, MIWRE has
initiated the River Basin Management (RBM) approach in the country. Under thisprogram, the country is divided into five major river basins; namely: the Amu
Darya, Northern, Harirod-Murghab, Helman and Kabul River Basins. The Amu
Darya Basin covers about 14% of area, but holds about 60% of water flowing;whereas, Helmand with 40% of area holds only 11% of water flow. Kabul River
Basin in the east of the country has a coverage area of about 12% and holds about
26% of flow. The River Basins in Afghanistan is shown in Figure 2.

Figure 2. River Basins of Afghanistan (MIWRE, 2004).

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3. Sustainability of Water Resource Management
Sustainable water resources management is the approach of meeting the present
water demand without putting the future such needs in challenges.
It is reported that in 2000, world widely, an amount of 5000 km3 of fresh water wasused. Out of this global consumption, about 70 % is the agricultural consumption,
while 20 % the industrial and 10 % for domestic uses
(http://www.nap.edu/books/0309092000/html/66.html). It is seen therefore, that
agriculture is the main water consumer from natural water bodies. However, thewater usage percentages vary from the developing countries to developed ones.
Attaining a sustainable water resource management strongly relies on coordination
between the major water users; namely, domestic, agricultural, industrial andecological. This intervention among the water users is shown in Figure 3.
3.1 Sustainability of Domestic Water Supplies
Water and sanitation along with the hygiene education are the complements ofhealth of human being. According to World Health Report (WHO, 2002), 88 % of
all disease in the developing world is related to usage of unsafe drinking water andinadequate sanitation. Unfortunately, more than one billion people are presently
without safe drinking water and half of the world population without safe sanitation
facilities. Because of this, as an example; about 2.2 million people die from diarrhea(water-borne disease) every year; 90% of them children, less than 5 years of age.
Sustainable watersupply Management

Sustainable Irrigation
Water Management

Sustainable Water
Resources Management

Sustainable Industrial
Water Management

Sustainable Ecological
Water Management

Figure 2. Sustainable Water Resources Components Interventions.

In another scenario, 300 million people suffer from malaria (vector-borne disease)each year. In this case as well, large majority are children. Vectors responsible fortransmission of this disease pass parts of their lives in stagnant water bodies.
Environmental management significantly reduces the spread of this disease.
Similarly, trachoma; (a water-washed disease), is the leading cause of preventableblindness. An estimated number of 6 million people suffer from loss of sight andthere are about 146 million acute cases worldwide. This can be prevented by
improving sanitation, reducing the breading sites of flies and teaching children towash their faces with clean water.

4As can be realized, all these incidents of human losses and suffering are preventableand economically feasible. The health risks associated with water- and sanitationrelated diseases incur economic burden on human and making them unable intaking part in economic activities. It can be understood therefore that the absence ofsafe drinking water and safe sanitation facilities are the major contributor of poverty
on the earth.
According to MIWRE (2004), the annual volume of water consumed for drinking
purposes in Afghanistan is no more than 0.346 billion m3 . This amount is less than
1.5 % of total water consumption in the country. It is imperative to note thatcurrently Afghanistan is one of the countries with the lowest safe drinking water
coverage. As an average, in urban and rural settlements, this coverage wasestimated in 1999 to only 24.6 %.
3.1.1 Approaches (strategies) toward Sustainable Domestic Water Supply
Management
Generally sustainable domestic water supply systems can be attained by a numberof interventions. These are: adopting policies toward water conservation, usage of
non-conventional water sources, water reclamation and recycling, adopting
appropriate water treatment technologies, and control on water wastage.
3.1.2 Sustainable Water Supply Management Indicators
A sustainable water supply system shall generally be capable of fulfilling the
purpose of its establishment. Moreover, there are certain measurable indicators thatenable one to examine its sus tainability. Among other indicators, the followings canbe taken into consideration:a. National water supply coverage: in Afghanistan, the present domestic
water supply coverage is about 30% and of sanitation below 20%.
b. The mortality and morbidity rates of water-borne diseases: the mortality
rate (mostly due to diarrheal disease) is 257 per 1000 (UNICEF, 2001)
c. The ratio of water withdrawal with the annual recharge of the sources
d. The changes in the level of contaminants in water sourcese. Ratio of recycled water usage to the amount of water extracted from thewater sources.
3.2 Sustainable Agricultural Water Management
Today more than 250 million ha are irrigated world widely. This is nearly five times
more than at the beginning of the 20th century. In connection to the water demand
for this purpose in future, TSD (2005) has estimated that in 2030, about 14 % morewater would be withdrawn from the natural water sources than today.
The inappropriate water and agricultural policies and poor or inefficient irrigation
management have affected water resources, damaged soils, deteriorated the water
quality and have retarded the agricultural production. In addition, an increase incrop production is associated with the use of nitrogen, phosphorus and pesticides.
All these substances at the end are added as impurities to natural water bodies.
Based on these, in case the condition continues, it is predicted that agriculture will
be a major cause for environmental degradation over the next 50 year
(http://www.umweltbundessamt.org).

5Based on FAO (2003) report, Shobair and Alim (2004) also have found that
presently agriculture is the major water consumer in Afghanistan. In this context,out of approximately 21.91 bcm agricultural water consumption, 19.07 bcm(87.04%) is met by surface sources and 2.89 bcm (12.96%) from groundwater. It
shall be mentioned that the total annual groundwater extraction is estimated toaround 3 bcm which 2.654 bcm of this amount is used for agriculture. Fig. 4 showsa breakdown of agricultural water that is furnished from groundwater sources.
Well;
0.78

Spring;
4.24

Kanat;
7.94

Figure 4. Irrigation in Afghanistan extracted from groundwater sources.
3.2.1 Approaches (Strategies) toward Sustainable Irrigation Water Management
Sustainable irrigation water manageme nt would be achieved by choosing thefollowing strategies:- Sustainable extraction of water from water sources- Improving water use efficiency- Introduction of efficient and appropriate methods of irrigation such as drip
irrigation- Minimize downstream environmental damages- Usage of the non-conventional water sources, e. g., water recycling- Utilization of appropriate water treatment technologies, e. g., water desalination- Putting emphasize on rain- fed agriculture with the possibilities of limited numberof supplementary irrigation- Capacity building of farmers on efficient water use
3.2.2 Sustainable Irrigation Water Management Indicators
Cai, et. al., (2001) has introduced the following indicators for measuring thesustainability of irrigation water management:a. System reliability (probability of the system success against risks),
reversibility (the probability of system recovery from failure) andvulnerability (the severity or magnitude of a system failure)b. Environmental system integrity (minimizing the interference of irrigation
system with the associated environmental systems)c. Equity in water sharing (no one should be disadvantaged), andd. Economic acceptability (beside food self sufficiency achieving net profit
over the long term)
In addition, following measurable indicators can be accounted for analyzing thesustainability of irrigation water systems:
a. Improving the water use efficiency: in Afghanistan this rate is as low as
25%
b. Release of pollutants with the irrigation water dischargec. Amount of sediments at the downstream discharge from the agricultural
lands

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d. Ratio between utilization of water from the non-conventional and the waterfrom the conventional sourcese. Percentage of farmer’s awareness in efficient irrigation methods and timing
for irrigation
f. Type of irrigation method.
3.3 Sustainable Industrial Water Supply Management
Industry extracts fresh natural resources and returns back products and wastes backto the environment. Beside the diffuse of toxic wastes, industry discharges an everincreasing amount of gaseous, liquid and solid pollutants into the air, water and soil.
In the rapidly growing population of third world, the increasing industrial activities
imply considerable pressure on the energy and natural resources and result in source
depletion; introduce industrial waste into the environment and cause accidents.
According to Bhasker and Nalco (2004), the industrial water demand forindustrialized countries (like USA, Germany, France and Canada) is significantly
higher than the agricultural demand. However, for the developing nations as wasseen, the agricultural water is the dominant one. As example, in India and China,
respectively, 93 and 87 % of fresh water is used for agriculture; whereas industry
currently use 4% and 7%.
With regard to industrial water consumption in Afghanistan, it shall be mentionedthat at present the country is in a post war era and no major industrial plant is inoperation. Therefore, industry cannot be counted for sometime as a major water
consumer he re. However, for the minor industrial activities, it is estimated that
0.5% of total fresh water of the country is used in this sector.

87

93
70

100

75

1.5

0.5

7

6

4

3

10

25

20

50

World/Country

Domestic Water

Industry

Afghanistan

China

India

0
World

Water Consumption (%)

98

As a summary, the water consumers in Afghanistan are respectively the agriculture,
domestic and industry: 98.0%, 1.5% and 0.5% respectively. The percentages ofwater consumption for agriculture, domestic and industry in the world, India, China
and Afghanistan are shown in Figure 5.

Irrigation

Figure 5. Global freshwater consumption.
3.3.1 Approaches (Strategies) toward Sustainable Industrial Water Management
A sustainable industrial water management could be achieved by observing thefollowing strategies:- Efficient water usage- Control of water wastage- Recycling of treated wastewater- Desalination of sea/ saline water- Water pollution control.

73.3.2 Sustainable Industrial Water Management Indicators
Sustainable industrial water management can be examined through the following
indicators:
a. Ratio of discharge of treated industrial wastewater released to theenvironme nt to the total amount of water extracted from water sourceb. Ratio of water extraction from non-conventional water source to the amountextracted from conventional sourcesc. Temporal changes in biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), pH andtemperature of natural water bodies where the industrial effluents aredischargedd. Annual water table drop in production wells in the area where the industrial
plants are locatede. Percentage of water loss in the industrial plantf. Living condition of fishes and other living species in open water bodies
where the industrial effluents are added.
3.4 Sustainable Ecosystem Water Supply Management
The goal of ecological sustainable water management is to protect first, theecological integrity of the fresh water ecosystem, and second, to meet the intergenerational human needs for fresh water ecosystems. This importance has only
been recognized recently.
Ecological integrity is protected when the compositional and structural diversity
and natural functioning of the ecosystem is maintained (Richter, et. al., 2003). To
retain the ecological integrity of fresh water systems, certain critical aspects of flowneed to be maintained. These aspects are including the base flow, regularly
recurring higher flows, floods and droughts.
3.4.1 Approaches toward Sustainable Ecosystem Water Management
For achievement of a sustainable ecosystem water supply, among others, thefollowing approaches can be taken in mind:
1. Ecological heritage conservation
2. Maintaining ecosystem flow requirement
3. Control of intrusion of pollutant into the ecosystem
4. Controlling other causes of environmental degradation, e. g., soil erosion
3.4.2 Sustainable Ecosystem Water Management Indicators
Unfortunately the negative impacts of unsustainable ecosystem water management
can only be measured over a long span of time. This examination is possible byperforming an environmental auditing. However, in relatively short period of time,
the following points can be the typical indicators:
1. Degree of existence of ecological integrity in the area
2. Changes in the inter- generational human water requirements
3. Degree of survival of water-dependent species
4. Changes in environmental quality of the area
5. Vulnerability of main environmental elements, e. g., water, air, soil,
vegetation, etc.

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4. Challenges ahead of Sustainability of Water Resources in Afghanistan
4.1 Weak Water Resources Institutional Infrastructure
The two and half decade of armed conflict has imposed a number of negativeenvironmental impacts in Afghanistan. The negative impacts on water resources canbe listed as below:
1. Intrusion of pollutants into water bodies etc.
2. Flood generation/ intensification; because of deforestation and prolong drought
3. Change of river morphology in the upper streams site
4. Uncontrolled boring of deep wells without a study on groundwater recharge
5. Water resources contamination across the country due to poor solid waste
management
Moreover, MIWRE (2004) has noticed that 47% of surfaces water of Afghanistan(84000 million m3 ) flows to the neighboring countries and fulfills their numerous
needs. According to the above reference, from Amu Dary, out of annual dischargeof 9 km3 of water that Afghanistan is entitled to use, it uses only 2 km3 (63.42
m3 /sec) . Only part of water from HariRod and Murghab rivers remain within the
country; the remaining is used for irrigation or dried up in Turkmenistan. Similarly,
Helamd River originating from the western side of Paghman Mountains covers
about 43 % of the territory of the country finally drains in Iran. In a same token,
Kabul River with 26% of mean annual flow is crossing the Afghanistan boundary;
and after irrigating vast agricultural lands in Pakistan, finally is discharged to Indian
Ocean.
4.2 Low awareness Level of the communities on the importance of water
resources:- Low level of public awareness regarding the environment in general; and on
the significance of water resources in particular. This is a major barrier in soundwater resource utilization for domestic and irrigation purposes- Lack of knowledge on safe usage of pesticides and fertilizers (chemical andanimal fertilizer)
4.3 Existence of Traditional Irrigation Methods- Inappropriate methods of irrigation practice ponding, e. g., and furrow irrigation- Disregarding the crop water requirement in irrigation practices
4.4 Shortage of Human Resources in the Field of Environmental Protection andResources Conservation- The long lasting war in Afghanistan has enforced a human resource shortage inthe country. This shortage is observed in all aspects, from the academic
institutions to office and field.
- Lack of human resource for conducting the environmental impact assessment- Lack of environmental auditing system in the country
4.5 Impact of long lasting war on Water Resources- Desertification/ flood generation in the country- Unlawful ownership of water rights by influential personalities- Degradation of natural resources: in Afghanistan also the past two and half
decades of war has led to huge and partly irreversible negative impacts onnatural resources. Massive destruction/ cutting of trees and intentional burnings

9

of forests, degradation of rangeland for fuel collection and changing ofpastureland to rain- fed cultivation have resulted to soil erosion, (MIWE, 2004).
5

Conclusions
Sustainability of water source can be evidenced by:- Water conservation, water recycling and efficient water usage practices- Rehabilitation/ upgrading of water utilization systems- Mitigation of environmental problems such as drought and flood disasters- Recharge of groundwater: natural and artificial- Keeping balance between groundwater recharge and discharge- Respecting the water right of the downstream users, including the ecologicalrequirements- Protection of environmental resources, prevention/ reduction of pollution- Raising public awareness toward importance of water resources and proper
usage of water in their daily activities.

6

Recommendations- Raising awareness on efficient water usage and encouragement habitualchanges of water users by launching “water education” programs throughvarious communication channels is highly efficient- For water conservancy and enhancement of groundwater recharge,
construction of water management infrastructure such as check dams andrain harvesting structures are necessary- Capturing water by making storage reservoirs where the topography of thecountry is appropriate with consideration of downstream water needs.
- Promotion of water uses from the non-conventional water sources, such a s
rain harvesting, recycling of wastewater, and effective usage of water for
irrigation shall be encouraged,- Making the existing systems more efficient by reforming water management
and policy and investing on improved technology and infrastructure- Limitation on the usage of groundwater by industrial plants for conserving it
for domestic purposes and hence imposing limitation on groundwater
extraction through laws and regulation and awareness of water users- Enforcement of national by-laws and regulations in connection to watershed
protection

7 Acknowledgment
The author would like to express thanks to Eng. S. S. Shobair, the water expert of
FAO, Afghanistan for reviewing the manuscript and giving valuable comments. I
would also like to thank Mr. Robert McKinney, the QIP program manager of IOM,
Afghanistan, for granting the permission for me to attend TASAE 2005.
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10Bhasker, D., and O. Nalco, 2004
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Sustainability Analysis for Irrigation Water Management: Concepts, Methodology
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